When I worked with someone to assess their strengths in and for starting a home based business, one of the immediate skills that I like to work on is time management. There are plenty of books and systems out there about how to manage your time... a whole billion-dollar industry in fact!
The trouble is - frankly - that you can be caught up in the management of some of the systems rather then the actual management of your time.
As with everything else through PBA, we like to turn the expected upside down, shake it, and see what falls out. Time management is a teachable, learned skill. It is 'not rocket science' for anyone already in or considering going into a home based business opportunity. It is a strategy - one of the primary skill keys that everyone must learn.
When I talk about time management, the phrase I use is 'Your Daily Mode of Operation' or 'Your DMO'. Time management is something that MUST become an integral part of your nature; it is not only how you conduct your day, but also how you maximize the best of yourself to achieve your full potential every day.
Most of us, without realizing it, waste a significant part of the day. The first step in any successful time management plan is to record over a two week period, not only what you do, but also when you do things during the day. Take a simple daily planner calendar and write down everything such as:
7:00 - 9:00: got up, walked the dog, morning clean up, breakfast w/family, to work.
9:00 - 12:00: Coffee (talked with Ted about the Red Sox - 20 min.), cleared desk, read e-mail (20 min.), 10:30 meeting with Ted re. Client.
12:00 - 1:00 pm - Lunch
etc. etc., etc.
You will quickly get a handle on where your day goes, and begin to see where time is being wasted. Are you walking the dog when it's your children's responsibility...or is it really your exercise? If it is - then keep it as a must do. If it's not, then put the job in the hands of the person (big or little) who should be doing it...or at least, share the job with them! Look again and you'll see if the twenty minutes with Ted followed by and hour and a half meeting with him about a client was necessary? Just how prepared were you for that meeting?
If you do this for only two weeks, I can guarantee you, you will notice time waster's (3 hours of TV a night), a meeting that is overlong, and even time wasted in unnecessary activities (e-mail is a BIG time waster today).
More then that, you will begin to discern patterns in your behavior; do you always watch Monday night football even if you don't care about the teams who are playing? Are you wasting time cleaning up a desk in the morning instead of organizing your desk and your entire office once and for all and taking ten minutes instead of twenty to prepare for the next day prior to leaving work?
The question that this simple exercise will help you discern is - are you being active OR are you being productive!
Once you have actually identified where you are wasting time, it becomes IMMEDIATELY EASIER to make a Daily TO DO List. My To Do List is compromised of 3 to 4 things I must accomplish that particular day to move my enterprise forward. Three to four things, not even a half a dozen, just three or four. As long as I do these things, my reward is a good night's sleep and a renewed sense of energy! I even find myself having more productive sleep; my dreaming has become more goal directed and my unconscious works on finding solutions for me that appear as answers during my real 'down' time!
Many of us use a lot of undirected, non-focused activity as an excuse for not grabbing a home based business opportunity, internet business, or franchise opportunity. We lock ourselves in our 'busy-ness' without realizing that it is avoidance technique that masks the fears we may have about changing course and direction of our lives and our relationships. There are no 'get rich quick' businesses that we can devote merely an hour or two of our time; those are schemes, not viable small business opportunities. If we are choosing to start to work at home, we must realize the "Power of the Hour"; every minute of every hour has the potential to bring us a return on our investment in it.
Moreover, the difference between grabbing the reins and managing your time instead of wasting it, is part of the reality of how, when, and if we can build a successful home business, not only from our hearts, but also from the heart of our home.
Tim Mckee is a Senior Partner at Pathways Business Associates and has worked with companies like Prosper Learning. PBA's mission is to develop leaders, coaches and entrepreneurs through the shared values of passion, courage, service and home based business success. Tim also helps families keep their home finances in check by using a home budget software.
No comments:
Post a Comment